Fish Cleaning Rash/Blisters?

[captain_no_fun]

During a couple of summers working at a lodge I got a rash on the back of my hands and blisters on my knuckles and always assumed it was from cleaning fish. I have heard guys call it coho poisoning but other than that haven't heard much. Just wondering if anyone on here has had the same thing or knows anything about it.

 

[Aces]

Always wear rubber gloves when cleaning fish!!

 

[gungadin]

When you are cleaning fish you are likely geting digestive juices on your skin, acids will eat your flesh too.

 

[Dogbreath]

When you are cleaning fish you are likely geting digestive juices on your skin, acids will eat your flesh too.

Doing a lot of cut plugging does the same to my hands-Herring digestive juices often cause eczema to break out one reason I don't like using bait.

 

[adanac]

we used to call it fish poisoning , like dogbreath said we after a full summer of guiding and cut plugging every day, the mix of salt and digestive juices and possibly not cleaning bait cooler out often enough would leave your hands with small red blisters that take forever to heal and eczema type dried skin. Only took me one time to get it and then switched over to wearing black nitriles when fishing bait.

 

[bullyjack]

What Adanac said. Iv'e known guys that ended in the hospital from it when i used to comercial fish.

 

[trophywife]

ew, bait mouth, or pluggers disease. lol

 

[hambone]

You'll get it just from salt water alone but I'm sure fish slime will make it much worse. Common problem with prawners during their commercial season. Only way to avoid it is having several pairs of gloves and rotating into a dry pair asap. You'll also get it on your wrist from a wet raincoat sleeve.

Most commercial fishing stores sell the waterproof arm cover things that go from your hands to above the elbow.

I thought I remembered people calling it seapups or something??

 

[Dave]

Wow, I'm thinking I am one lucky guy or have an immune system that totally worked in my favor. I have dissected thousands of salmon, in hot, dirty, and humid conditions, and have often cut myself with scalpels early on in a sampling survey; duct tape and paper towels stopped the bleeding and let me continue my job. I can remember wondering if the blood I was smearing on to glass slides was mine or from the fish, lol!
I never had an issue with infections or otherwise ... very fortunate.

 

[Dogbreath]

Wow, I'm thinking I am one lucky guy or have an immune system that totally worked in my favor. ...

Definitely a luck guy with good genes.

I fished with Iron Noggin who as we all know has decades of experience as a commercial troller and as soon as there's any doubt he sprays his hands with bleach something we should all pay attention to.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Wow, I'm thinking I am one lucky guy or have an immune system that totally worked in my favor. I have dissected thousands of salmon, in hot, dirty, and humid conditions, and have often cut myself with scalpels early on in a sampling survey; duct tape and paper towels stopped the bleeding and let me continue my job. I can remember wondering if the blood I was smearing on to glass slides was mine or from the fish, lol!
I never had an issue with infections or otherwise ... very fortunate.

Dave-- Like you I have also dissected, gutted, stripped gonads from brood etc and the one thing that caused a rash was , for lack of a better term, ovarian fluid from a gravid female salmon. I learned quickly to wear gloves and to wash-up immediately after an egg take. Same goes for sportfishing. But still does not compare to getting a rockfish spine under a finger nail!!!!

 

[tubber]

Soaking the hands in scalding water with some Dettol in it helps quite a bit.

 

[Rednex3]

It's also called coho burn. Dettol remedy is the ticket. Every commercial boat I fished on had more than one bottle on board at all times.

 

[TheBigGuy]

They still sell that stuff? Dettol and Iodine, there's some old school medicinal products that remind me of the days when leaches were in vogue. Ouch

 

[spring fever]

We always use anti-bacterial soap on the boat and wash-up after any fish cleaning activity! Haven't had any problems so far!!

 

[Gong Show]

They still sell Dettol. I take it on every fishing trip. Fill the sink of water as hot as you can handle,then pour in a healthy dose of Dettol.
Hands don't smell like fish either, just smell like Dettol!
My hands get inflamed and stiff from cleaning too many fish.

Edited for typos!

 

[CVmike]

I can also vouch for the dettol soak. After a few days on the water pulling crab traps, grabbing bait from the brine cooler, and cleaning fish a Dettol soak with hot water allows you to move your hands again well enough to hold your beer.

 

[TheBigGuy]

Well if soaking your hands in dettol allows you to move your hands again well enough to hold a beer, I'll have to get me some for the winter fishery.

 

[Birdbrain]

coho poisoning

The key word here is "coho". Here's what I learned when I was a commercial salmon troller many years ago:

Coho double their weight in their last ocean summer. This means they are eating machines, which means they have to digest their food super fast. So, their digestive acids are extremely strong. If you don't clean a coho in fairly short order, their digestive acids will actually eat away at their own flesh. Ever gutted a coho that sat a long time after it was bonked? Noticed the membrane that lines their abdominal cavity was dissolved, and the adjacent flesh was also starting to get dissolved? Rib bones are sticking out? Basically, the fish's digestive juices are rotting the flesh.

We called that "belly burn", and it was one of the main things that fish buyers looked for when we delivered our fish. Belly burnt fish got downgraded, and that also reflected negatively on the fisherman who delivered it.

Troll caught salmon fetch the highest price, compared to net caught, so the buyers need to maintain that market advantage. The reason that troll caught salmon get the best price, is because they are immediately bled and cleaned, before being put carefully on ice in the hold. Large ones get extra ice in their belly cavity. Salmon that are well treated on a commercial troller, with good ice, can come out of the hold 10 days later fresher than day old salmon that are treated poorly. Conversely, seine caught salmon are just dumped straight into the hold (which has no ice), without even being bled or cleaned. Coming out of the hold, they don't look so good, in fact the ones on the bottom may need to be removed by shovel. These fish do not typically make it to the fresh fish market; they go into a can.

So if you're cleaning a lot of coho, your skin will get a lot of exposure to those strong digestive juices, and get that painful, blistery rash. I got it really bad one time. We had a couple of fantastic days, and I must have cleaned a thousand or more coho a day for 2 or 3 days. I was an inexperienced deckhand, and went along with the skipper's advice to wear cotton gloves. In hindsight, he didn't have much experience either. The cotton gloves held the coho's digestive acids, even though I rinsed them out frequently. The back of my hands became a mess of oozing, blistery pain. I had to take some time off work until it healed.

 

[Fish Camp]

I found a problem with stripping the oils from my hands left the problem unchecked.Found a great remidy was a product Prevex B.The waxy film held the meds deep in skin for longer treatment while active in the outdoors.